Iagb Spotlight – Prof Satbir Khalsa
IAGB SPOTLIGHT
Our community spotlight this month – Sat Bir Singh Khalsa
IAGB Spotlight
Iagb Spotlight – Saigals
IAGB SPOTLIGHT
Our community spotlight this month – Saigals
It was my pleasure to chat with Dr. Anil Saigal and Ranjani Saigal, two well-known and highly respected names in the Boston community. The entire community was very worried for their wellbeing after they contracted COVID. No one knew much about the disease in March, so the unknowns were bigger. I spoke to them about their experience battling this terrible disease and their takeaways for us.
Yogita Miharia
IAGB: Thank you very much for your time and willingness to share your COVID journey with our readers. Do you know where or how you contracted COVID-19?
Dr. Anil Saigal: I was in Oxford from Mar 5th to Mar 15th. At that point, there were no restrictions in the UK and life was normal. Since I couldn’t get a direct flight home, I came through JFK, where I had to spend a night. I either contracted COVID in UK or JFK. Ranjani wasn’t with me, but she got the infection from me.
IAGB: When did you start showing symptoms? What were your symptoms? Did you have any pre-existing conditions?
Dr. Anil Saigal: I flew back home on the 16th of March and on the 19th I started feeling sick with slight fever. So, I called my doctor on the 20th. At first the nurse I spoke with did not think I had COVID based on my symptoms but I insisted on seeing the doctor, who after hearing my travel history agreed I should get tested. I got the positive test results on 23rd morning. I self-quarantined at that point. And no, I do not have any pre-existing conditions.
IAGB: At what point did you have to be hospitalized?
Dr. Anil Saigal: My daughter Amrita has many friends that are doctors, and one of her friends asked her to check if I was breathing normally or heavily. She called Ranjani to check that who noticed that I was indeed breathing heavily. Amrita’s friend recommended to not take any chance and call 911. The ambulance came and took me to Lahey. I don’t remember if I was breathing heavy or anything but remember walking to ambulance and being wheeled into Lahey. This was the last thing I remember of my long struggle and rest is a blur. For me, getting medical help at the right time was critical. I was intubated as soon as I reached the hospital.
IAGB: At what point did you get tested, Ranjaniji?
Mrs. Ranjani Saigal: My symptoms were cough, fever and feeling faint but nothing as extreme as Anil’s. The hospital declined testing for me. When the hospital informed me that Anil had to be intubated, I fainted. I was transported to Lahey by ambulance where they tested me immediately. I was hospitalized for a day. My main symptom associated with COVID-19 was feeling dizzy. Our friend Dr. Ashok Joshi gave me an oximeter so I could keep tabs on my oxygen level.
IAGB: What happened after that?
Mrs. Ranjani Saigal: I was home, in total isolation, feeling unwell myself and worrying for Anil incessantly. When our friends found out, they started reaching out. My dear friend Raksha Soni took charge of the food along with Vaishali Gade, and this is how “Meals to Heal” program came into being. I was the first person to benefit from it. Every morning there would be home cooked food delivered to my doorstep. My neighbor was very kind and made sure I had the basic necessities.
IAGB: When Anilji was at the hospital and you were home alone, how did you manage at home?
Mrs. Ranjani Saigal: Prayer, Prayer and more Prayer. I was praying all day. I am a trained priest, so have access to many scriptures that I read all day long. Being in isolation, I had no one to hug, so I would pick up my idols and hug them. God wanted me to get closer to him that way. In my opinion, you need something to hold onto, your faith is very important. At such times, you get into prayer so quickly. My kids learned so many scriptures in this time. The Power of prayer is amazing. With God by my side, I never felt alone.
IAGB: Tell us about your experience with the hospital
Mrs. Ranjani Saigal: Lahey was amazing. It was very well equipped. The doctors were excellent and were very kind to talk to our family, and they did all the right things. But having someone on top of everything was important. This is when our kids’ friends helped a lot.
Dr. Anil Saigal: Honestly, I have no memory of those 50 days! And no one could visit me during that time. I was intubated for 29 days, and even after that when I was conscious while still at the hospital and rehab, I don’t remember anything. Apparently, this is a common phenomenon and in fact better for a patient that goes through trauma so there is no PTSD. I would rather take this than remember the saga.
IAGB: At what point did the hospital discharge you?
Dr. Anil Saigal: After I was taken off the ventilator, I was in the hospital for another week. They were constantly monitoring my vitals and parameters. Once they knew that I had recovered from COVID-19 I was moved to rehab. The only remaining issues I had upon discharge from the hospital were ventilator issues. Rehab was focused on making me independent. I was there for 12 days, which is an unusually short recovery time.
IAGB: Tell us about your stay at the rehab center?
Dr. Anil Saigal: There was an entire wing of COVID patients, but no one was allowed to interact with each other. On my second or third day there, they asked me if I knew the date and I was shocked to find out that it was May 7th. I said what happened to month of April? When I later told Ranjani and kids, they started laughing. That’s when they realized I remembered nothing!
IAGB: How was homecoming?
Dr. Anil Saigal: To me it seemed like I was out for a short period as I have no memory of the hospital stay. But once I realized what had happened, I was thrilled to be back home.
Mrs. Ranjani Saigal: He doesn’t remember he had such a hard time but everyone else knows ☺ When he was moved from Lahey to rehab, he did not understand what the whole fuss was about as he didn’t realize he was in the hospital for so long. Once at rehab he realized what had happened he was super excited to come home. And the whole family was beyond ecstatic! It felt like God came at that moment. Every day he was at the hospital felt like a year. This is the year we bonded more with our son-in-law, and his family. His sister is a God gift who helped us immensely in these tough times. She is a doctor herself and kept the communication going with the Lahey doctors.
IAGB: What would you like our readers to take from your experience?
Mrs. Ranjani Saigal: People should understand how serious this is. It can happen to anyone. We did not take it that seriously initially. If we knew, Anil would have been more cautious in Oxford and JFK. He wasn’t wearing a mask then and no one else was. Till it hits you personally or someone you know, it is a just a number. But when it hits you, you realize how real it is. One thing I found out was even when your loved ones are in the ICU, you can send holy ash (vibhuti). The Chaplin will make sure they will put ash on the patient and say a prayer. The hospital supports you in sending your faith via these means. This meant a lot to me.
Dr. Anil Saigal: Most important thing we learned is everyone should have a healthcare proxy. About 80-90% Indians don’t have. If you don’t have one, DO IT urgently. And make sure your spouse and kids know where the papers are. For everything in ICU, they need permission. We cannot stress how very critical it is to have a healthcare proxy. Especially when moving me from Lahey to rehab, they would have needed a court order without a proxy, which could take a week’s time. Fortunately, I was awake and I could tell them that my wife is my proxy.
IAGB: If you were to go back and redo, what would you do differently if you got COVID?
Dr. Anil Saigal: I would take it more seriously to begin with. Otherwise from my side I couldn’t have done anything differently. I quarantined myself as soon as I knew I had COVID.
Mrs. Ranjani Saigal: If it was today, they won’t have intubated Anil right away. But this is all emerging so we don’t know what is accurate. If one ever has to go to the hospital, make sure someone brings your personal belongings back. All of Anil’s stuff was lost. They had no clothes for him when he was being moved from hospital to rehab. Another important thing is to have resources around you. You need a lot of doctors to humans’ translation. My Son in law’s sister is an amazing person, along with Amrita’s friends – I want to give a shout out to these younger doctors. I have absolute appreciation for these youngsters who are so willing to help. The hospitals are so busy that they have no time to talk to everyone. We were lucky to know a doctor at Lahey. Build your network. Ask for help.
IAGB: One thing that both of you are looking to get back to when this is over?
Dr. Anil Saigal: This is my second life. I will make it a point to try to make some difference in this world, to do my best to help people with this second chance I have been given.
Mrs. Ranjani Saigal: I want some peace, quiet and an uneventful life! To Anil’s point, I learned a lot and want to share that with all. Ekal is a blessing for me, it keeps me engaged and happy. It is my way to give back to the society.
IAGB: Have you been tested for antibodies?
Mrs. Ranjani Saigal: We haven’t been tested. And unfortunately, we cannot donate since we have been to India to a malaria impacted area very recently. Though I have signed up myself in the plasma registry for future needs.
IAGB: Now that both of you are mostly safe from this virus, are you folks staying home or going out?
Mrs. Ranjani Saigal: No place to go now ☺ No celebrations or events…lol. We are not taking any more or any less precautions than others are. We haven’t changed our lifestyles. We go for a walk every day to get fresh air.
Dr. Anil Saigal: I am not bored as I don’t know where first 2 months went by!
IAGB: Parting words for our readers?
Dr. Anil Saigal: We take things for granted. We need to remember that every day is a special day. Enjoy the most you can because you never know what strikes when. Have fun, be helpful, be respectful and take one day at a time.
Mrs. Ranjani Saigal: We are blessed to live in the Boston community I have received incredible help. IAGB’s mission is critical, it is building community, and it is very important to continue with this mission. Everybody we have touched knowingly unknowingly in any way, reached out back. It is unimportant to “succeed” in life but important to reach out to people. We are truly blessed to be in this Boston community.
Dr. Anil Saigal, a former IAGB President is Professor of mechanical engineering at Tufts University. Ranjani Saigal, former IAGB Director is executive director of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA. They are very active community members and co-founders of www.lokvani.com, a South Asian media outlet in New England.
Iagb Spotlight – Sewa
IAGB SPOTLIGHT
Our community spotlight this month – Sewa International
IAGB spoke to Raju Datla, an active volunteer of Sewa International.
IAGB: Tell us about Sewa, its history and its mission
Raju Datla: Sewa International is a humanitarian, non-profit service organization. Founded in 2003, Sewa International is part of a larger movement that started in India in 1989 and is active in twenty countries. Sewa serves humanity irrespective of race, color, religion, gender or nationality. Its mission is to serve humanity in distress, aid local communities, run developmental projects for the underserved, and assist people in transformational change through the power of innovation by mobilizing partners, donors and volunteers. The mission is accomplished by focusing efforts towards:
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Disaster recovery
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Family and child welfare and
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Promoting volunteerism
Charity Navigator, one of the major American evaluators of charities, and the largest and most-utilized evaluator of American charitable organizations, recently ranked Sewa International among the Top 10 “Highly Rated Charities Relying on Private Contributions”, with Sewa ranking fifth among the ten such listed charities.
IAGB: Tell us about Sewa Boston chapter
Raju Datla: Started in February 2013, Sewa’s Boston chapter works to implement Sewa International’s mission. With programs that are executed on a monthly, half yearly and yearly basis, Sewa Boston volunteers have immersed themselves in selfless effort for the welfare of all. Every year numerous enthusiastic volunteers use the Sewa platform to fulfill their desire to give back to the community. Corporate organizations like CVS/Caremark and Dell EMC encourage its employees to get involved in Sewa programs. Sewa Boston has a wide range of project and activities covering Health & Wellness, Education, Yoga for Sewa, Feeding the Hungry, Community Development, Refugee Empowerment and Diwali Food Drive.
IAGB: What are some of the major initiatives of Sewa?
Raju Datla: Sewa International has many initiatives. Some of the major ones are
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Sponsor a child (SAC): Started in 2009, SAC was founded on a holistic philosophy that spans education, health, physical and cultural development of under privileged children
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Family services: This program leverages existing local community resources, while bringing complementary services to effectively serve the typical as well as culturally specific unmet sociological service needs that have risen among the fast-growing Indian immigrant community
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Volunteer development: Volunteer Development projects are organized at the chapter level. Sewa provides volunteer resources to community organizations that need help. Volunteers engage in various activities like cleaning of temples or city parks, cooking at soup kitchens to feed the hungry, stocking food banks, running community events and conducting food drives
IAGB: What are some of your key fundraiser events?
Raju Datla: Sewa International organizes multiple fundraisers every year to raise funds. Every year during the March-April months, Sewa volunteers organize a Holi fundraiser. People from the community have fun playing with colors while donating to Sewa projects. During Navaratri, Sewa organizes a Garba fundraiser. In the fourth quarter of every year an annual fundraiser is organized to raise funds for the projects it supports across the world. One off fundraisers that are project specific are organized on a as needed basis.
IAGB: Tell us about Sewa’s work for COVID-19
Raju Datla: Sewa International has been active on the ground early, to help deal with the Coronavirus pandemic situation. We have established eight non-medical helplines in different areas of USA. While these helplines continue to offer support, and help to people calling from all over the country, Sewa sprang into action to address a critical need by launching the first of its kind convalescent blood plasma registry with live and social media support. The goal of this registry is to bring matching blood donors and COVID-19 patients seeking plasma together. In addition to this, Sewa volunteers have been delivering meals to first responders, donating canned food to food banks, making DIY face masks, caps, scrubs and donating them to hospitals and senior centers, raising funds through social media channels and engaging other partner organizations like IAGB to make a bigger impact on the community. We have racked up impressive numbers
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2500+ Volunteer Hours
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60+ Plasma Donors
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$500,000+ Amount Raised
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4500+ Hot Meals Served
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30,000+ N95, KN95, Surgical Masks Donated
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16,000+ DIY Masks Donated
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+80,000 Donated to Food Pantries
IAGB: Tell us about Sewa Boston’s future plans
Raju Datla: Sewa Boston chapter volunteers met in January and came up with a 2020 plan that outlined the various activities and fundraisers they were going to conduct throughout the year. Little did they know that their plans will be scuttled by an invisible enemy. But, they are motivated as ever. While they wait for things to settle down so that the 2020 plan can be executed, in the short term they will immerse themselves in COVID-19 relief efforts in the New England area. They are looking forward to take on new challenges and help the community recover from this global pandemic.
Visit https://sewausa.org/ to learn more about Sewa.
Iagb Spotlight – Gurjar
IAGB SPOTLIGHT
Our community spotlight this month is on the Gujrati organization in the New England Area – GURJAR.
Saroj Madhani-Savani
Mrs. Ramila Thakkar
“Gurjar is at its best under the Leadership of Women President” – Dr.Dinesh PatelThere have been 9 female Presidents of Gurjar.
IAGB: Tell us about Gurjar, its history and its EC structure.
Gurjar: A small group of Guajarati folks used to meetup for garba, something very essential to all of them. They rented the basement of a church and danced to their hearts content. Food used to be potluck style. The discussion to start Gurjar started in 1976 after the garba was attended by almost 150 people. That is when the need for an organization became clear, which would reach out to people staying in the suburbs. In a meeting in Dec 1976, the decision to create an organization was taken. Gurjar was officially formed as a non-profit in Apr 1977. A care taker committee took charge when it was formed. Eventually they came up with an EC structure, which is made up of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and 10 Directors, term of whom is 2 years. The elections happen at the General Body Meeting in May. As of now, Gurjar memberships are life memberships. Membership gives discounted tickets for all events hosted by Gurjar. In addition, every member family child gets a $500 scholarship upon High School graduation. Gurjar has been doing this since 1977. In January, annual newsletter in print is sent to every member.
IAGB: How did the name Gurjar come?
Gurjar: Vinod Shah, one of the founding member and the first president of the officially formed Gurjar He came up with the name. at a time, he was Reading Gujarati novel “Saraswatichandra” This novel had profound influence on Gujarat.in this novel he came across word “Gurjar “and this how we got our name
IAGB: What is the mission of Gurjar?
Gurjar: We have 3 major goals – spread the culture, inspire education and do charity.
IAGB: Tell us about your events. Which one is your flagship event?
Gurjar: We host a multitude of events every year. In January to March timeframe, we typically bring Gujarati movies and/or Gujarati or Hindi dramas. Towards the end of March, we host events like Bollywood bash or Casino night, mainly to attract the young members. These are our fundraiser events as well. In May, we do a talent show. Sometimes we use that time to do competitions, like a few years ago we did a Super Moms Dance competition. After that is our India Heritage Day, which is an outdoor all-day event in Lowell. It was attended by almost 5000 people last year. Sept/Oct is our garba event, and it needs no description. The most popular event of Gurjar. November is our Diwali banquet, which is attended by all our old timers, and boasts of a live band/musician from India. that prior to the Diwali formal banquet, The banquet has been happening since 1993 and is a grand formal event. Before 1993 Diwali celebrations were done in church halls and school cafeterias Both garba and Diwali can be called our flagship events, because of the demand and attendance.
IAGB: Where do you see your organization in the next five years?
Gurjar: As we step into a new decade, my committee and I would like to see Gurjar growing into an organization fully supported by the youngster. Our goal is to recruit and involve the youth and give them the feel of our heritage, that would empower them to instill the same love for Indian culture in their children. Secondly stay connected with all the other regional associations of Indian origin, because unity is power
IAGB: What are some of the other initiatives of your organization?
Gurjar: We do a lot of charity. We have donated to various organizations like EKAL, ICC, Akshay Patra, WCC, Shishubharti, Desai Foundation to name a few. We also donate to causes depending on the need, like Nepal earthquake, Florida hurricane, Kutch earthquake. We had raised $350K for Kutch earthquake and there was zero administrative cost for raising this amount. Gurjar has also adopted villages in Kutch. We work mostly with local charities, but focus our efforts in India when there is a major calamity. From time to time, we approach organizations when a calamity happens to see if we can help.
IAGB: What are some of the challenges?
Gurjar: Biggest challenge is bringing the young generation to the organization and involving youth in the events. Thus, we do events like Bollywood bash, Casino night, etc. We are also working on a plan to revive the youth club, that will attract young members and involve them. We want to enable them to organize their own events and do community work together.
IAGB: Tell us about your experience as a President of Gurjar.
Gurjar: I have been in the Gurjar committee for 10 plus years, Under my leadership we have had sold out events like India Heritage Festival, Two Navratri Nights and Diwali Event
Have been very fortunate and feel blessed to have such a supporting committee and the loyalty and well wishes of Gurjar members, friends and the past committee members.
IAGB: Tell us about yourself.
Ms. Saroj Madhani: Being in love with music, dance, drama and culture, I have been involved in various cultural activities throughout my life. I grew up in Mumbai, India in a Jain Gujarati-Marwari (Savani) family. I received my business degree from University of Mumbai and Purdue University. I have participated in many garba competitions and performance on TV. I was actively involved with drama club in college. I participated in many inter-college drama competitions and won medals for my acting. Being culturally inclined, I immediately got interested in various religious and community organizations after moving to USA in 1989. I have volunteered with India circle of caring (ICC), Jain Center of Greater Boston (JCGB) and Jain Center of New England (JSNE) for community service, cooking for events and choreographing dances. Promoting the Gujarati culture has been close to my heart and I have been involved with Gujar since 2010. My professional experience is primarily in Banking industry for 24years. I love to read, travel and dance to any music. My family is my strength – my son Aashay Madhani and husband Vipin Madhani.
Ms. Ramila Thakkar: I grew up in Shillong, current capital of Meghalaya, India. I migrated to the US in 1972 with my husband, Praful. I am a core member of the finance team at Lahey Clinic in Burlington, since 1984. I have always been passionate about community service and have been involved for over 36 years, first 10 years at Shishu Bharati and then Gurjar-Gujarati Association of NE, for the last 25 years, I am currently on the advisory board of Saheli. I am an avid reader my strength lies in my communication and organizational skills. I have lived in the Boston area for over 48 years and what I value most about community services is the bonds formed and the strong camaraderie’s shared, and each and every individual in some way has contributed to my personal growth.
My personal quote: “Blessed are those, who have true friends.”
Visit https://www.gurjar.org/ to learn more about Gurjar.
Iagb Spotlight – TMM
IAGB SPOTLIGHT
Our community spotlight this month is on the Tamil organizations in the New England Area – TMM (Tamil Makkal Mandram) and NETS (New England Tamil Sangam).
We spoke with TMM’s President Mr. Ramesh Dayalan (RD) and Vice-President Mr. Ramesh Kumar (RK).
IAGB: Tell us about your organization, its history, and its EC structure.
RD & RK: TMM was officially started in 2015 as a non-profit by eight people. The informal family gatherings started in 2010 in Nashua, and it grew into TMM because of the interest of the community. The board consists of nine members. The EC has no set number of members. Our term is two years and one has to be in the EC for 2 years to join the board and the president should serve one term in a board to be a president.
IAGB: What is the mission of TMM?
RD & RK: Our main goal is to enrich the Tamil language and culture and perform charity. 50% of our collections go to charity. With the goal of promoting the language, we promote all area Tamil schools so our next generations can keep the language alive. We do have a Literary Circle group, which conducts Tamil based event on a small scale once in two months.
IAGB: Tell us about your events. Which one is your flagship event?
RD & RK: We do multiple events every year. Our largest one, which is also our flagship event is Pongal, which happens in late January. We enforce the Tamil language in this event, so every item on stage is in Tamil only. In our other events, we do not enforce the language and are more open. Ours is an open organization and everyone is welcome to attend our events. Almost fifty non-Tamil families attended this year’s Pongal event. It is a huge cultural event where kid’s and adults’ talent is showcased. We had about 270 Cultural participants, around 100 kids participated in drawing, coloring and painting competition. Overall we had about 900 attendees. The photo booth at this year’s event consisted of life-size cutouts of various Tamil scholars (Thiruvalluvar, Bharathiyar & Kamban ). People attend it for the grand experience. Some of our other events are Tamil New Year, Summer Olympics, Cricket Tournament, Volleyball / Throwball Tournament, Diwali, etc. For Diwali, we try to bring an artist or troupe from India. In between, we also conduct some workshops like events, for example, Rubik’s cube, Yoga, college preparation, etc. In this year’s New Year event, we are inviting all area Tamil Schools to keep up with our mission of enriching and preserving the language. We also did a Golu competition this year. We have another event coming up in 2 months, which will focus on drama, speech, and music. We are also in the process of planning a family camping trip this summer. TMM is all about bringing Tamil speaking people together and building lifelong friendships. Early once we screen 2 or 3 Tamil movies to our members for a discounted price.
IAGB: Where do you see your organization in the next five years?
RD & RK: We want to continue spreading the language and our culture and keep up with our charity goals. Our goal is to bring Tamil and other community people closer and provide them many different unique events throughout the year. One of our important ones is to support the formation of Harvard Tamil Chair, which is for establishing a department of Tamil at Harvard University.
IAGB: What are some of the other initiatives of your organization?
RD & RK: Like we mentioned, charity is one of our core goals. In the last 5 years, we have donated $20,000. In the US, some of our beneficiaries have been Harvard Tamil Chair, Epilepsy foundation, local school districts, fire stations, and soup kitchens. In India, we work with Tamil Naidu Foundation to give back to charities there. 2 years ago, there was a major flood and we donated around $3500 towards building houses for impacted families. We also donate to VisionAid, which makes a direct impact on the people of India. We are currently looking at building classrooms for some schools in India. We also choose a school district in TamilNadu, and give an award to a top student and his/her teacher.
Our Youth wing is significantly active. They conduct the TMM Olympics themselves including fundraising.
IAGB: What are some of your challenges?
RD & RK: Like most organizations, our challenge is also to bring people to events sometimes. The bigger one is selling tickets when we bring any talent/troupe from India since the costs are high.
IAGB: How are you different from NETS?
RD & RK: TMM started as a family gathering that eventually grew big enough for us to host our first Pongal event in a church auditorium. 325 people showed up and that is when we realized the need for another Tamil organization. NETS do it in their style and we have our own style. Whenever we conduct an event, we always make sure that we are slightly doing it on a bigger scale than our last year’s event. NETS is more active in the Southern part of the region, and TMM more in the Northside area. We worked with NETS during the Harvard Tamil Chair Fundraising and we will always work together if there is any need to enrich Tamil Language.
IAGB: Tell us about your experience as President and Vice President of TMM.
RD & RK: Our team is a very hardworking team, which makes our jobs easier.
We always work together as one team. We always listen to other’s input, innovative ideas, and feedback. The great thing about our team is that everyone has the same frequency and wavelength. After every event, the team gets together in a restaurant to unwind and have a fun and positive postmortem. We truly enjoy being part of such an amazing team. We would like to add that we are very appreciative of IAGB’s work of bringing all regional organizations together. Thank you.
IAGB: Tell us about yourself.
Ramesh Dayalan: I live in Nashua with my wife Sivasakthi Thirunavukkarasu and 2 2 kids – Sruthi Ramesh (15) and Karthik Ramesh (8). I work in a Financial Company in Boston area. I have 20+ years of work experience in various IT and Financial sectors. I love to be part of the community and do service as much as I can. I have been a part of TMM for last 10 years and am one of the founding members.
Ramesh Kumar: I have over 23 years of experience in the IT field and have led numerous software engineering teams at an array of major Boston based organizations like Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, StateStreet Financial Corporation, Hachette Book Group, Digitas, EnerNOC, Massachusetts General Hospital & SDL. I have an unquenchable thirst for learning new technologies and like to lead from the front. Outside of work, I like to play all type of sports, but cricket is my front runner. I like to spend time with family and friends, watch Pats all season and watch Celtics, Bruins, and Red Sox if they go to playoff :). Apart from being a part of the TMM team, I am also part of a few other non-profits. I live in Lexington, MA with my wife Thilaka and two boys, Arkesh Kumar (13) & Krithesh Kumar (8). As part of TMM, my ultimate goal is simple “Every single Tamil family in MA and NH should be aware of the name “TMM” and every one of them should step into some TMM Events in the future.
Visit https://www.tmm-usa.org/ to learn more about TMM.
We spoke with NETS President Ms. Shanthy Sundaramurthy.
IAGB: Tell us about your organization, its history and its EC structure.
Shanthy: New England Tamil Sangam (NETS) is a non-profit 501 (C)(3) organization providing the full range of Tamil Cultural activities and Community Service to the New England region primarily Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The members of the NETS are the residents of the New England region and have an interest in Tamil cultural and social events. That’s why Dr. Sivamani named New England Tamil Sangam. He is the founder of this organization. It was started by 3-4 people in the early 1970s Siva Mani, Lalitha Mani, K.K. Sankaran, and Krishnan Iyer. Its EC Structure consists of President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
When the need arises we fill Vice-President, Joint-Secretary and Join-Treasurer roles.
IAGB: Where do you see your organization in the next five years?
Shanthy: NETS is marching towards our 50th year soon. In the next five years:
a) We will be enhancing more cultural events involving more and more talented kids who want to portrait Tamil Heritage and Culture.
b) Bring more aids for the benefit of NETS Members in case of emergency, help, and support needed.
c) NETS, as of today, has more than 1500 members and is expected to grow further in the coming years.
IAGB: What is the mission of NETS?
Shanthy: Our Sangam provides means and mechanisms for many talent displays. It also provides a great place to have some social contacts. We help our members build new friendships and foster our unity. To help facilitate these, we organize a lot of Social Events. We do conduct Learning Sessions and Speeches by various Tamil Scholars. Our motive is to spread our old and ancient Indian Language as much we can.
IAGB: Tell us about your events. Which one is your flagship event?
Shanthy: We do four events in a year and when the opportunity rises we do more than four. We celebrate Pongal Vizhaa, Chithirai Vizha, Annual Summer Picnic & Children’s Vizha.
Our flagship event is our famous PONGAL VIZHA with a unique theme every year. We attract 1000 people every year who participate in our cultural event which includes Dancing, Singing, Drama, and Instrumental. We make all kids are given equal opportunity to display their unique talents. We make sure all our events are only in TAMIL.
IAGB: What are some of the other initiatives of your organization?
Shanthy: NETS is so proud to be the main backbone of the Harvard Tamil Chair in the New England Region. We supported bringing Harvard Tamil Chair in the prestigious Harvard University by involving and organizing various fundraiser events. Our Team of 2015-2017 had made this possible. Some of the notable fundraisers involved celebrities from India (Mr. Y.G. Mahendra from Drama Genre, Mr. Karthick Iyer from Instrumental Genre, Karthikeya Sivasenapathy – Socialist and Reformist). NETS supported TNF Walkathon Fundraiser held in NH during 2017 which helped to bring more support to underprivileged kids in India for their studies.
IAGB: What are some of the challenges?
Shanthy: Being united all the time is always a challenge for mankind. We face different challenges in different events. Some of them are easy to overcome while some of them take time. But we overcome all challenges with our integrity and our experience.
IAGB: Tell us about your experience as a President of NETS.
Shanthy: In the beginning, I was naturally nervous. My being a woman as the president of NETS was a challenge. I had to face all the challenges as they came. I had great expectations that our team members to be the pillar for NETS. I have learned a lot in these past few months. They have always supported me and stood by my side. As a woman, I want to encourage and support all other women who work so hard for their families and for their community. It is never easy for a person to remain balanced. The great Dr. APJ Kalam once said that the great leadership quality should be to ask ourselves, “What can we give?” As a president of NETS, I ask the same question. What can we give to the NETS community? I took an oath of this office to do as much as possible for the welfare of our NETS community.
IAGB: Tell us about yourself, Shanthy.
Shanthy Sundaramurthy: I grew up in Thiruchirapalli, Tamilnadu, India. It is a beautiful city where the great rivers Cauvery and Kollidam split. I graduated from college majoring in Accounting and Marketing. I am married to Dr. Sundaramurthy. He is an Electrical Engineer. He showed me how to love people. I moved to the USA in the early 90s. I am the mother of seven beautiful children. I have worked as an Accountant for the last 17 years. Lately, I own a business. We are blessed and are happy as a family. I love people in general. I have a special love for Tamil in my heart.
Visit http://new.netamilsangam.org/ to learn more about NETS.
— Yogita Miharia & Sanjay Kudrimoti